Sub Pop's Bruce Pavitt talks Experiencing Nirvana

You write about the first time you met Kurt – at his apartment, when you didn’t even know he was in a band. You mention that there was a Queen poster on one of the walls. That would surprise a lot of people.

“Yeah, there was the Queen poster and a Rolling Stones poster, too. His girlfriend at the time, Tracey, was wearing a Melvins T-shirt. They were both part of the Northwest indie-punk-underground scene, so the Queen and Rolling Stones posters opened my eyes a little bit, like, ‘Huh, that’s interesting.'"

But they weren’t up there ironically.

“They weren’t there ironically, no. I think he really represented an amalgamation of underground and pop sensibilities.”

Did Kurt or the other guys Nirvana ever mention anything about hair metal bands? In ’91, they would go a long way to putting those groups out of business.

“I don’t remember that directly, but I would assume they would have talked about those bands because they came from a punk culture. I do remember, however, and I think this is worth noting, in ’88, when we first started working with the band, I went over to Novoselic’s and he had a Jane’s Addiction record in his collection. I really saw that band as being a missing link between the LA Strip bands and the alternative scene. It was the one LA band that did tend to get played at house parties and stuff in the region at that time. Other than that, there was certainly a general disdain for corporate hair rock.”